New York lawyers serving the public good.

City Bar Justice Center Honors Brittany Bacon of Hunton & Williams for Outstanding Pro Bono Work with the Center’s Legal Clinic for the Homeless

Friday, September 06, 2013

Organization:
City Bar Justice Center

The City Bar Justice Center would like to honor Brittany Bacon, an associate at Hunton & Williams LLP for her outstanding pro bono work through the Legal Clinic for the Homeless (LCH). She has volunteered with the Project since 2010, zealously representing her clients and handling over 48 cases. She has recovered over $17,500 for her clients during her time as a volunteer with LCH. At Hunton & Williams, Ms. Bacon’s practice focuses on privacy, data security, and information management issues.

Ms. Bacon has fought hard to maintain childcare benefits, a lifeline for one of her formerly homeless clients of the Project, which has enabled this client to work and avoid a return to the shelter system. Last year, Ms. X, the mother of a four year old, reached out to LCH and told the Project that the City was discontinuing her childcare benefits because she was working and no longer eligible for Public Assistance. Ms. Bacon did some research and discovered that this family was still eligible for "transitional child care benefits". She requested a State hearing and eventually the City agreed with her that Ms. X was entitled to transitional childcare for one year. However, after the year ended this past May, Ms. X. contacted Ms. Bacon, again, distraught because she could not afford to pay the fees at her daughter’s preschool for three months. She would have to quit her stable job to care for her child. Ms. Bacon appealed to the New York Times Neediest cases fund and another charity. As a result of Ms. Bacon’s efforts, Ms. X. received $4500 in funds to cover the cost of Ms. X’s daughter’s pre-school through the end of August when the child will start kindergarten at Success Academy, a free charter school.

The City Bar Justice Center and its Legal Clinic for the Homeless are extremely grateful to Brittany Bacon for all of her hard work to assist clients of LCH.